Fishing reels in the prior art have included generally front and rear covers which are connected together to house the internal mechanism of the reel. Distinct advantages may be obtained by making a portion of the front cover out of plastic and another portion of the front cover out of metal, although both parts have been made of metal or of plastic. As shown in Moss U.S. Pat. No. 4,331,303, while it is possible to use the advantageous features of using two different materials, assembly difficultuies may arise in aligning each portion of a two-part front cover.